Grip-on cap seals for bottles or other containers and method of production of said cap seals



AND

y 1963 E. GOLDE ETAL GRIP-ON CAP SEALS FOR BOTTLES OR OTHER CONTAINERS METHOD OF PRODUCTION OF SAID CAP SEALS Filed April :5, 1958 INVENTOR. ER/CH GOLDE KURT TREYDTE 2 2 CA PATENT AGENT G-ON CAP SEALS FOR BOTTLES OR OTHER CONTAINERS AND METHOD OF PRGDUCTEON F SAID CAP SEALS Erich Golde and Kurt Treydte, Geretsried Via Wolfratshausen, Upper Bavaria, Germany Filed Apr. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 726,284 Claims priority, application Germany Apr. 5, 1957 2 Claims. (Cl. 215-39) The invention concerns a grip-on cap seal for bottles and other containers, the cap being fitted with a sealer insert of relatively thin and pliable plastic material. This insert has a head covering the mouth of the bottle whilst the actual sealer portion protrudes into the bottle neck. The invention is particularly applicable to the Crown type of cap seals.

Object of the invention is a cap seal which, whilst suffering visible deformation when the bottle is opened the first time, may nevertheless be used for repeatedly closing the bottle, even one containing an aerated liquid. For this purpose the sealer insert must be firmly anchored inside the grip-on cap, and in a manner both technically simple and suitable for mass production. Thus, the invention refers also to a method of production of grip-o-n cap seals.

The sealer portion of the plastic insert protrudes in known manner sufliciently far into the bottle neck, for its outer wall to press tightly against the inner wall of the neck. Were the insert to be separated from the grip-on cap after the first decapping and pressed back onto the mouth of the bottle without the cap, an effective re-closing would be possible. With aerated liquids, however, there is a danger that an excess pressure developing in the bottle may well force ofi the plastic seal, but, if in accordance with the invention, the sealer insert is firmly anchored to the grip-on cap, the combined hold of the undamaged cap section which did not suifer deformation when the bottle was first opened, and the frictional adhesion of the sealer portion inside the bottle neck, will suffice to prevent the cap seal coming loose, even in the event of gaseous pressure developing inside the bottle.

In order to ensure the firm anchoring of the plastic insert to the grip-on cap, the base of the sealer portion has a turret-like protrusion reaching towards the grip-on cap, with a riveting stump of smaller diameter. The cap has a central hole of equal size whence the stump is inserted to be deformed-by suitable heat application-- into a rivet head. It is advisable to make said turret protrusion hollow so that it can take the dolly when riveting, thus to reduce the elastic deformation during this process.

It is a feature of the invention to press in a countersinking manner the edge of the cap centre hole and, correspondingly, to draw the top of the protrusion of the sealer insert into a shoulder so that the edge of the central hole rests closely on the drawn shoulder. The resulting depression will take the rivet head, as described above. If the riveting stump is accurately dimensioned, the formed rivet head will just fill the countersink without rising above the cap surface.

In manufacturing this closure, it proved advantageous to lay the insert with its riveting stump into the cap with the countersunk hole in such :a manner that the shoulder surrounding the riveting stump just rests against the inside of the cap. The inside of the shoulder is then supported by a close fitting dolly, so as to prevent the edge of the cap from being flattened out during the riveting process. The riveting stump is then heated until it can be plastically deformed and made into a rivet head which just fills level the countersink of the central hole.

3,089,604 Patented May 14, 1963 The heat necessary for plastic deformation may be passed on the riveting stump by means of a heated dolly, but it is also advantageous to carry out the requisite heating by means of impinging rays, preferably of the infra red or material types, eg, by means of one or more hot air jets.

The drawing shows schematically an embodiment of the invention which is further to be described below. The invention, however, is not to be considered restricted to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows a grip-on cap of the Crown type with a central hole;

FIG. 2 depicts a sealer insert to be applied therewith;

FIG. 3 shows the marrying of grip-on cap to sealer insert;

FIG. 4 depicts diagrammatically the process of supporting, heating and plastic deformation, whilst FIG. 5 shows the completed grip-on cap closure.

The grip-on cap 1 is provided with a central hole 2, the edge 3 of which is depressed in countersunk manner.

From the hollow protrusion 5 of the sealer insert 4 to be applied, the wall 6 rises to the turret-like central portion 7. It forms an annular shoulder 8 whose edge 9 falls oflf obliquely towards the centre from which rises the riveting stump 11. To facilitate the marrying of grip-on cap and sealer insert as much as possible, and, so as to ensure that both parts remain in position during riveting, the edge 3 and edge 9 are correspondingly shaped and therefore fit well one into the other, as is evident from FIG. 3.

For the purpose of plastic deformation shoulder 8 is supported by means of a dolly 12 whereby the edge 3 of the grip-on cap derives a firm counter base which prevents edge 3 from being flattened out again when subsequently the riveting stump 11 is plastically deformed.

If now the riveting stump 11 is heated by means of contact heat, or is subjected to impinging heat such as hot air from one or more jets 13, and is then pressed onto the-preierably cold-dolly 14, the grip-on closure attains the shape shown in FIG. 5.

We claim:

1. A grip-on cap seal for a bottle or the like which comprises (A) a metal grip-on cap having a central hole therein, the annular portion of said cap immediately surrounding said hole being depressed from the upper planar surface of said cap and forming an inwardly inclined anchoring flange, and (B) a pliable insert member positioned against the undersurface of said cap, said insert member having a hollow generally cylindrical stopperforming part protruding away from said cap and adapted to project into and sealingly engage the inner wall of the neck of a bottle, said cylindrical stopper-forming part being connected at its lower end with the lower end of a smaller cylindrical part which is positioned within said stoppenformng part and is closed at its upper end by a central portion carrying a rivet-headed stump, said rivetheaded stump protruding upwardly through said central hole in said cap and being formed to substantially fill the space within the depressed portion of said cap with the upper surface of said rivet-headed stump being substantially coplanar with the upper surface of said cap, said insert member being arranged to embed both the upper and the lower surface of the anchoring flange of said cap to establish an inseparable connection therewith, said anchoring flange and said rivet-headed stump being spaced radially inwardly from said smaller cylindrical part.

2. A grip-on cap seal for a bottle or the like which comprises (A) a metal grip-on cap having a central hole therein, the annular portion of said cap immediately surrounding said hole forming an anchoring flange, and (B) a pliable insert member positioned against the underinsert member being arranged to embed both the upper 10 and the lower surface of the anchoring flange of said cap to establish an inseparable connection therewith, said anchoring flange and said rivet-headed stump being spaced radially inwardly from the inner wall of said cylindrical stopper-forming part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,459,304 Blank Jan. 18, 1949 2,693,892 Guinet Nov. 9, 1954 2,801,016 Satz July 30, 1957 2,963,189 Tourre et al. Dec. 6, 1960 

1. A GRIP-ON CAP SEAL FOR A BOTTLE OR THE LIKE WHICH COMPRISES (A) A METAL GRIP-ON CAP HAVING A CENTRAL HOLE THEREIN, THE ANNULAR PORTION OF SAID CAP IMMEDIATELY SURROUNDING SAID HOLE BEING DEPRESSED FROM THE UPPER PLANAR SURFACE OF SAID CAP AND FORMING AN INWARDLY INCLINED ANCHORING FLANGE, AND (B) A PLIABLE INSERT MEMBER POSITIONED AGAINST THE UNDERSURFACE OF SAID CAP, SAID INSERT MEMBER HAVING A HOLLOW GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL STOPPERFORMING PART PROTRUDING AWAY SAID CAP AND ADAPTED TO PROJET INTO AND SEALINGLY ENGAGE THE INNER WALL OF THE NECK OF A BOTTLE, SAID CYLINDRICAL STOPPER-FORMING PART BEING CONNECTED AT ITS LOWER END WITH THE LOWER END OF A SMALLER CYLINDRICAL PART WHICH IS POSITIONED WITHIN SAID STOPPER-FORMING PART AND IS CLOSED AT ITS UPPER END BY A CENTRAL PORTION CARRYING A RIVET-HEADED STUMP, SAID RIVETHEADED STUMP PROTRUDING UPWADLY THROUGH SAID CENTRAL HOLE IN SAID CAP AND BEING FORMED TO SUBSTANTIALLY FILL THE SPACE WITHIN THE DEPRESSED PORTION OF SAID CAP WITH THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID RIVET-HEADED STUMP BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COPLANAR WITH THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID CAP, SAID INSERT MEMBER BEING ARRANGED TO EMBED BOTH THE UPPER AND THE LOWER SURFACE OF THE ANCHORING FLANGE OF SAID CAP TO ESTABLISH AN INSEPARALE CONNECTING THEREWITH, SAID ANCHORING FLANGE AND SAID RIVET-HEADED STUMP BEING SPACED RADIALLY INWARDLY FROM SAID SMALLER CYLINDRICAL PART. 